Inexpensive Excursions Close to Lyon (Pt. 1)

By Ashley C., guest blogger studying French in Lyon, France

I love to travel, but I donʼt have a lot of money, and here are some tips that Iʼve discovered by talking to locals and making some of my own mistakes.

1) Buy a 50% reduction card if you plan to travel around Lyon on the weekends are staying for longer than three weeks. The cards cost 20 Euros, but they knock the price of the train in half for a lot of places in France: Avignon, Annecy, Chartreuse, etc. If youʼre traveling with friends, just buy one card, and have the card holderʼs name buy your tickets (but do pay them back!).

2) Paris is easy to get to on a dime, but you have to plan early! The tickets to paris can range from 20-100 Euros one way, and you do not want to be the one paying the 200 Euros for the round trip! I bought my tickets about a month early, and I paid 60 Euros round trip. My friend paid 200 Euros for his round trip ticket. Ouch.

3) Hotels/Hostels: Book early! Everything is just booked during the summers. Even though I would have easily stayed in a hostel whenever I traveled, I wasnʼt ever able to because I never planned ahead in this respect. I did find some cheap hotels (about 70 Euros a night) to stay in, and this wasnʼt a bad option considering I was traveling with friends.

4) This brings me to my next point - travel with friends! I didnʼt know anyone before I came to Lyon, but I made friends fast not only because Itʼs fun to have friends, but also because itʼs just so much more affordable to travel with friends! You can split the hotel or the hostel, you can split taxies, you donʼt have to worry so much when you get lost, you have people to drink with at the bars, ect. I donʼt think I need to go on about how great it is to have friends! Make some, and travel together if at all possible!

 

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